This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Loki Mini+ analog four band equalizer. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $149/$159 (Black/Silver).
We have the usual Schiit enclosure which is fine for this application. Its stamped steel enclosure helps here by making it heavy enough to not get dragged by its dual set of RCA cables. I was happy to see a tone defeat switch on the right. Sadly there is no power switch in front (you have to reach in the back):
We have the usual Schiit AC adapter which wastes some power given the heat it generates. Surprisingly, the box itself also got a bit warm. Didn't expect this in a line level type of gear.
I got a kick out of the "no user serviceable parts inside." Does anyone in this day and age expect such parts? I think that vanished back in 1970s if not earlier.
Anyway, the idea is that you tailor the sound using the four controls. Let's see how it performs.
EDIT: Just read that the owner sent me the 500 ma transformer by mistake. The correct one is 1000 ma. I just checked the dashboard and IMD with 1000 ma transformer and performance is identical. The larger transformer may run cooler though.
EDIT 2: I incorrectly labeled all the graphs as "Mani+" rather than "Mini+."
Schiit Loki Mini+ Measurements
Let's start with its frequency response with the tone defeated or not (controls set at detent):
Ideally with controls at center we would still have flat line but we don't. Fortunately the error is small at 0.5 dB. Setting the controls to the right at 3:00 o'clock, gives us an idea of what each one does:
I was surprised at the effect of the middle controls (C2 & C3). They don't do much boosting but actually lower the response more at one end than the other. The extreme ones work as one would imagine more or less.
I set all the controls at max and min which should just set the unit up for flat response and act as extra or negative gain:
Instead of that, we get quite bit of deviation. This will make it hard to interpret what the unit is doing by looking at the controls.
Let's see distortion and noise by operating the unit first in bypass mode:
Performance is the same as if I bypassed the unit altogether indicating that the switch simply shorts the input to output. So if you don't need it, you can bypass it more or less completely. I say more or less because crosstalk is impacted:
If you enable tone controls, then you take a significant hit in distortion:
Noise performance is very good:
The internal buffer seems to start to saturate at just 0.5 volt:
I was disappointed to see fairly steep increase in distortion with frequencies above 500 Hz:
Conclusions
If I were to summarize the performance of Mani+ it would be "it could be worse!" Analog equalizers can be quite noisy which I find unbearable. Here, Mini+ is pretty quiet. On the other hand, it throws away fair bit of performance which is hard to accept in absolute, i.e. regardless of cost. But then again maybe it is OK for the price. While I did not try to operate it, I suspect it would be frustrating to make sense out of what the middle controls do. Lack of memory means adjusting it for different types of music, speakers will be hard.
Anyway, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other for Schiit Loki Mini+ so won't put it on my recommended list.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
We have the usual Schiit enclosure which is fine for this application. Its stamped steel enclosure helps here by making it heavy enough to not get dragged by its dual set of RCA cables. I was happy to see a tone defeat switch on the right. Sadly there is no power switch in front (you have to reach in the back):
We have the usual Schiit AC adapter which wastes some power given the heat it generates. Surprisingly, the box itself also got a bit warm. Didn't expect this in a line level type of gear.
I got a kick out of the "no user serviceable parts inside." Does anyone in this day and age expect such parts? I think that vanished back in 1970s if not earlier.
Anyway, the idea is that you tailor the sound using the four controls. Let's see how it performs.
EDIT: Just read that the owner sent me the 500 ma transformer by mistake. The correct one is 1000 ma. I just checked the dashboard and IMD with 1000 ma transformer and performance is identical. The larger transformer may run cooler though.
EDIT 2: I incorrectly labeled all the graphs as "Mani+" rather than "Mini+."
Schiit Loki Mini+ Measurements
Let's start with its frequency response with the tone defeated or not (controls set at detent):
Ideally with controls at center we would still have flat line but we don't. Fortunately the error is small at 0.5 dB. Setting the controls to the right at 3:00 o'clock, gives us an idea of what each one does:
I was surprised at the effect of the middle controls (C2 & C3). They don't do much boosting but actually lower the response more at one end than the other. The extreme ones work as one would imagine more or less.
I set all the controls at max and min which should just set the unit up for flat response and act as extra or negative gain:
Instead of that, we get quite bit of deviation. This will make it hard to interpret what the unit is doing by looking at the controls.
Let's see distortion and noise by operating the unit first in bypass mode:
Performance is the same as if I bypassed the unit altogether indicating that the switch simply shorts the input to output. So if you don't need it, you can bypass it more or less completely. I say more or less because crosstalk is impacted:
If you enable tone controls, then you take a significant hit in distortion:
Noise performance is very good:
The internal buffer seems to start to saturate at just 0.5 volt:
I was disappointed to see fairly steep increase in distortion with frequencies above 500 Hz:
Conclusions
If I were to summarize the performance of Mani+ it would be "it could be worse!" Analog equalizers can be quite noisy which I find unbearable. Here, Mini+ is pretty quiet. On the other hand, it throws away fair bit of performance which is hard to accept in absolute, i.e. regardless of cost. But then again maybe it is OK for the price. While I did not try to operate it, I suspect it would be frustrating to make sense out of what the middle controls do. Lack of memory means adjusting it for different types of music, speakers will be hard.
Anyway, I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other for Schiit Loki Mini+ so won't put it on my recommended list.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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